Interview with Nephylim!

Editing, without the smallest shadow of a doubt. I love to write. I live to write but once the story’s out it’s out and to go over it again and again is torture. Add to that any suggestion that the editor doesn’t love my babies as much as I do and I’m spitting nails and vowing never write again… at least not for anyone other than myself. But then I write another story that I’m bursting to show someone and before I know it my baby’s been whipped out of my hands to be butchered by another evil genius, torturer, demon editor.

List your top three pet peeves.

People who take offence too easily over stupid things

What is your favourite Joke?

What’s the difference between a duck?
One leg is both the same

I know it’s crazy but my best friend and I first read it in a rag mag (university rag week is a fundraising week and the university students produce a magazine full of jokes and articles which they sell as part of the fundraising events.) We were sitting in a café, can’t remember were and a group of students in fancy dress came by selling the magazines so we bought one. We read through it together and when we saw this joke we cracked up. It’s kind of become our theme.

Tell us about your latest release.

I’m greedy, I have two that came out very close together.

HUMP IN THE NIGHT is a commission for House of Erotica of five stories of paranormal activities.
A redeeming ghost, a vengeful fey, a horny virgin werewolf, a confused vampires and the unlikely coupling of an angel and demon on opposite sides of the final war of good against evil, in which they intend to cheat.

Five ghoulishly sexy stories with a twist… as always.

This is my very first attempt at pure erotica and has a LOT more sex than I’m used to but it was fun to write and, hopefully, fun to read.

ENIGMA II – FIGHTING THE MAN

Book two of the Enigma series. Silver (*sigh*) the freed sex slave is trying to settle into ‘normal’ life but his devoted lover, River, is not doing him any favours by shielding him from the world so much he’s as detached from reality as he ever was.

When River’s parents are killed in a car accident his young brother Ben comes to live with them, drawing the attention of Social Services who don’t quite know what to do with Silver. Placed under intolerable pressure by the demands of moralising social workers River and Silver’s relationship cracks and crumbles and Silver runs away, back to the only place he’s ever felt he belonged… or so he thought.

However, at an erotic dance club cum brothel he learns there is a whole world of difference between slaves and whores and meets some of the bravest, funniest, most loyal, talented and beautiful whores in the business. He makes a firm friend of the irascible Ariel and falls in love with a fellow freed slave, Asher. Between them, Asher and Ariel complete his journey to freedom and, when tragedy strikes he goes back to his River, a changed man; a free man.

What have you got coming soon for us to look out for?

Well, apart from Bigger Briefs Pas Deux, I have two new books in the pipeline.

In The Runaway, Jack, a quiet young man recovering from injuries sustained in the car accident that killed his parents, in a little cabin by the lake, meets Ciarrai, and enigmatic stranger. An insanely confident yet vulnerable cross dresser, so androgynous he can pass as his own twin sister, Ciarrai fascinates and captivates Jack.

One thing flaws their burgeoning love affair – the past. Jack has none. His memory was wiped in the accident and is only slowly returning in flashes that raise more questions than they answer, more often than not accompanied by terrifying panic attacks. On the other hand the very last thing Ciarrai wants is for his past to catch up and he hides it ever more jealously as Jake begins to unearth more and more pieces of his former life.

When finally confronted with the truth Ciarrai was hiding Jack is shocked to the core of his being and really doesn’t see how their relationship can survive. In the end it isn’t the survival of the relationship that becomes the issue but survival itself when someone has to die.

I love love love Ciarrai. He’s such a darling. He wears a leather mini skirt and suspenders on a date, giggles during sex and can’t skim stones for toffee.

In Fallen Angel, Isobel, who believes she may be a were panther meets Arran, who knows he’s a vampire and they embark on a journey to solve the puzzle that will reveal the true origins of vampires and uncover a legendary treasure that may or may not establish its owner as king of all vampires.

Helped by Arran’s family, stalked by his unscrupulous uncle and the deadly shade demon, entangled in the unfolding memories of a shared love affair from millennia past, the two of them fight against the odds, not only to stay together, but to stay alive.

This one has a unicorn in it. What more can I say?

Where do you get your best ideas?

How many grains of sand are there on a beach. That’s how many different places. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but I’ve had storming ideas from

• A mannequin in a shop window (the story was nothing to do with mannequins or shop windows, but I’d had the whole walk to work to morph it into something completely different)
• Dreams
• A rather popular but very badly written book about vampires which made me think, hell, I can write better vampires than that
• A conversation between people on a train
• My clients at work
• Past lives
• Fallen angels and the first War in Heaven
• Music
• Television.

Usually, I see an image, or hear a sound or snippet of conversation that makes me think of a scenario which generates characters who then write the story.

What do you do to relax?

Write. No seriously, writing is my total all round life saver. If I feel happy I write, words bursting from my fingers in their excitement to get onto the page. If I’m stressed I write, all the pent up energy and uncontrolled emotion flowing out of my fingers onto the page. If I’m upset I write, the pain and sorrow flowing… well you get the picture. When I’m upset or angry I tend to take it out on my characters I’m afraid, so they try to keep me happy.

I also paint. I love to paint but it’s not so easy. I suffer from severe problems with my back and I can only paint when my back pain is under control… on a good day. On a bad day I write away the pain on my laptop in convoluted positions on the sofa or chair. Sometimes the pain meds give me… interesting… ideas too.

Do you write about what turns you on?

Umm… maybe I should plead the fifth on this one as I get turned on by rather strange things.

Essentially I write what my characters tell me to write and I get just as turned on by a highly charged scene where characters aren’t even touching each other as I am when they’re tearing off each other’s clothes.

Sex doesn’t really do it all that much for me in print. I prefer the real thing. I tend to skip past sex scenes when I’m reading unless they’ve really sucked me in and are totally necessary for the plot. That’s the way I write them to… as and when they’re necessary for the story and not just because the characters or anyone else want me to. There have been times when I have written sex into a story because I was asked nicely but to be totally frank I don’t enjoy writing sex. I enjoy writing.

What length of story do you prefer to write?

Long ones. I struggle with anything under 5k and my preferred length is 60k+

If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

As much as you could manage without throwing up on the doorstep. The old tradition of ‘hospitality’ is alive and well in the Welsh valleys. It is considered extremely bad manners not to at least offer to feed anyone who comes to the house, even complete strangers trying to convert you to another religion or sell life insurance.

My mother would have died rather than not have had cake to offer visitors, and it was homemade until she had to admit at 80 that it was too much for her to spend so much time in the kitchen.

If you popped in unexpectedly you would probably have to make do with sausage and mash or fish fingers and chips, although if you’re staying a while I could whip you up some cawl (lamb stew with potato, carrot, onion, parsnip, swede and leeks) or corned beef stew (carrots, potatoes, onions and corned beef). There is ALWAYS bread, milk, fruit, nuts and yoghurt and a selection of teas and coffee. You sure as hell won’t starve and that’s for sure.

Mind you, if I’m anything like my mother, as soon as I’ve stuffed you so full you can’t get up off the sofa I’ll suggest you might want to think about going on a diet.

Do you prefer hot or cold weather and why?

COLD!!!!!

Many many reasons. I hate the sun. I have very pale skin and the only time it looks tanned is when all the freckled join up. I can’t spend any length of time at all in the sun, even with the highest factor sun block, or I crisp up. I also have very light sensitive eyes so bright sunlight gives me terrible headaches.

I don’t like being too cold but it’s easier to layer on clothes than trying to tear off your skin.

Very high on my list of things I really, really hate to do is trying to get to sleep on a hot night

Are you a romantic?

Absolutely, totally, completely, utterly, hopelessly.

Do you listen to music when you’re writing?
Sometimes. Mostly I listen to whatever rubbish my son has on Disney Channel or on his latest YouTube fad. I’m not the sort of person that lives for music and my favourite sound is silence. More often than not when my children aren’t here, the television is off and there is silence. Heaven.

Do you ever read your stories outloud?

No, it embarrasses the hell out of me.

What are your future ambitions?

Marry a rich man/woman so I don’t have to work anymore. Seriously, I’d like to write more books and get more books published and meet loads of new friends. Basically more of the same.

I would be a liar if I said I didn’t want to have a bestseller and make enough money from writing to not have to work anymore but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t.

As long as people are reading and enjoying (and preferably telling me they’re reading and enjoying) my stories I’m happy.

Nephylim is a Wednesday Briefs author like me and features in our latest Bigger Briefs M/M anthology of Reluctant Romance!

Win a copy of Wicked Watchers Looking at the Lads by leaving a comment on this post! Winner will be drawn on 30th July! Let us know what you like to do to relax to win a hot book of voyeuristic delight that holds a story from Nephylim and me!

4 Comments

I like to relax by sitting on the back porch. We have a huge pond in the backyard with mature trees around it. And my God, the wild life! You can sit out there and watch the fish jump, see a turtle stick its head up, listen to the frogs at night, or watch ducks swim by. Just this morning I sat out back and watched a baby bunny playing.

We have bird feeders all over the place, so its become a game trying to figure out different species, lol. Of course, sitting out there is also where I tend to work plots out in my head or run dialogue. LOL-win, win situation. :)

Wow, that sounds beautiful. Wish I was there :) The mountains are nice though. On a summer day like today they do strange things to sound and make you feel you’re in another world altogether. In some ways this little valley is in its own world. It’s not one I always like but it is one I feel comfortable in. That’s been a problem. Get too comfortable and there’s no impetus for change :)

I also relax by writing, but twice a year my husband and I take a nice long cruise and just unwind by doing nothing at all. Just hanging with family (yep, the whole extended Italian-American family goes on a cruise), visiting ports, shopping and doing the kind of research that’s so darn fun I never want to stop. You know, old forts and historic houses.

Of course, cruises end, which is why we keep taking them. We watch television the rest of the time and it’s very much a shared activity.